Much has been written about the team’s travails – the loss of seven All-Americans, the woeful performance at the faceoff X, unforced turnovers, the lack of a go-to scorer. Lost on the list has been the performance of the Orange D, which under Rogers has never allowed more than 7.72 goals per game or ranked lower than No. 14 in the nation.

Until now. One season removed from a No. 3 ranking and two removed from No. 1 the Orange defense sits at No. 34 among the 61 teams that play Division I lacrosse. It is allowing roughly three more goals per game than it did last season. A year ago SU allowed double-digit goals in only four of 17 games. It has done so in seven of 13 games this season.

Everybody expected the unit to take a step back for three big reasons – four-year starter and goalie of the year John Galloway, four-year starter and All-America longstick midfielder Joel White and three-year starter and All-America close defender John Lade. Nobody expected the step to be so pronounced.

“Not at all,” said junior Brian Megill, the only returning starter at close defense. “When you graduate 99 percent of the defense from last year you’re going to expect to step back, but being a top-tier team you can’t look at it like that. The next guy should be just as good as the guy who graduated.”

“I’m going to be honest. It has been a very disappointing year,” Rogers said. “We’re not happy with anything, and you’re never content. As a coach you’re going to have your ups and downs. It’s just life. We’re just continuing to practice the fundamentals, all the basic stuff. And we’ll get there eventually.”

Rogers hopes his mother is right, that “eventually” is going to happen this season. There is precious little time remaining, perhaps less than a week if the team falls to Notre Dame and then loses Thursday at Villanova in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

“I look at it this way: There is a reason we’re where we’re at,” Rogers said. “You have to stay on course, keep working hard, and who’s to say we don’t turn it around and win a national championship? I don’t know if that’s in our cards or not, but we’re going to approach it that way.”

The problem with staying the course is the team has shifted course several times as it tries to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 and only the second time since 1982. The team has employed three goalies in an attempt to replace Galloway and five longstick midfielders to try to fill the void left by White. Offensive midfielder Steve Ianzito was moved to defense midway through the season to help replace one of the unsung stars of last season’s D, Tim Harder.

Rogers recently inserted true freshman Brandon Mullins into the lineup at close defense in place of sophomore Matt Harris. Megill has been compelled to take faceoffs in recent games to help solve SU’s most glaring problem this season, further unsettling the defense.

“We’re still toying with who is our best long pole,” Rogers said. “Who are our best three close defensemen? And can you have a guy who can flop back and forth? They’re all good players. We just need one of them to rise, and we just haven’t seen that yet.”

Also missing – and in Rogers eyes it is the most important element – has been a defensive quarterback, a role filled last season by Tom Guadagnolo, who is now an assistant coach at Holy Cross.

“I think the key name that people don’t understand was Guadagnolo,” Rogers said. “He was the one who saw the big picture. He was the communicator, got people in the right spots, and that’s the guy we don’t have right now.”

“He was the knit,” Megill said. “He was the chemistry guy. He never shut up. Everyone respected him and listened to him, and that’s why he was so critical to our defense. We’re not as close as we were last year, but this late in the season we should be like that.”

Megill is the obvious choice to fill that role based on his experience and ability – he was recently named one of the 25 Tewaaraton Trophy nominees. However, Rogers said the role is unsuitable for a team’s top defender, who is constantly on the ball guarding a foe’s most dangerous threat.

“It has to be an off-ball guy, and unfortunately we are still young and inexperienced there,” he said.

Lacking the glue Guadagnolo provided, the defense has been leaky at times, sliding too early to double team when it is unnecessary and failing to help when help is required.

“Everyone has made some mistakes here or there,” Rogers said. “We don’t have one guy who’s just perfect. You never really do, but you want consistency. We’re trying to find the right mix and match of guys that is going to get us to where we need to be. Things are tough right now, so we need to bear down, grind down and figure out a way to get it done.”

It has to happen now. Rogers believes the talent is there, and 13 games into the season inexperience is no longer an excuse.

“We can play with anyone if we don’t make mistakes,” he said. “I think we’ve proven that. But we’ve got to keep our mistakes down and we have to play smart lacrosse. And we have yet to do that in a big game. Is it going to happen? I’d like to think it’s going to happen.”

His mother told him it would. He hopes she is right.

A step back
Here is how the Syracuse defense has fared nationally in the five years Lelan Rogers has been defensive coordinator (the number at right is goals per game allowed):
2012: No. 34 – 9.77
2011: No. 3 – 6.94
2010: No. 1 – 7.40
2009: No. 4 – 6.19
2008: No. 14 – 7.72